CIA 'wielded gun in interrogations'

WASHINGTON - The CIA staged a mock execution and made threats with a gun and a power drill, during interrogations of terror suspects the spy agency was desperate to persuade to talk, according to media reports, citing a long-secret internal CIA report.
The episodes are part of a catalogue of alleged abuses - a 2004 report by the CIAs inspector-general - that has prompted US Attorney-General Eric Holder, to consider appointing a criminal prosecutor to investigate cases in which the CIA strayed beyond its interrogation authorities.
The prisoner confronted with the gun and power drill was identified by current and former US government officials as Abd al Rahim al Nashiri, the alleged plotter of the attack on the US destroyer Cole. Nashiri was also one of three prisoners who was subjected to the simulated drowning interrogation method known as waterboarding.
The inspector-generals report, which is due to be issued on Monday, also describes at least one instance in which the CIA fired a gunshot in a room next door to a detainee in an apparent effort to convince the prisoner that another terrorism suspect had been executed, the official said.
The cases are among the most extreme examples in which CIA interrogators sought to improvise methods that were never mentioned in any of the legal memos the agency procured from the Justice Department authorising the so-called enhanced interrogation programme.
Some of the things that were done were almost in juvenile detective mode, a former US official familiar with the contents of the report, was quoted as saying. Even so, the report focused most of its most critical attention on alleged abuses of interrogation methods the agency had been explicitly authorised to use.
In particular, the report raised troubling questions about the frequency with which certain prisoners were being waterboarded.
Segments of the report that were declassified this year indicate that two senior Al-Qaeda prisoners - Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Abu Zubaydah - were waterboarded a total of 266 times, far more than had been envisioned in the Justice Department memos that gave the CIA permission to use the harsh method.
The CIA declined to discuss specifics in the report.
But CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano said the Justice Department has had the complete report since 2004 and that prosecutors have carefully reviewed it for legal accountability.
He said the CIA in no way condoned behavior - no matter how infrequent - that went beyond formal guidance.
This has all been looked at, Gimigliano added. Professionals in the Department of Justice decided if and when to pursue prosecution. Thats how the system was supposed to work and thats how it did work.
Still, Holder is said to be moving closer to appointing a criminal prosecutor to examine, or in some cases, re-examine cases of alleged CIA interrogation abuse, The Los Angeles Times said. The disclosure of fresh details from the report this weekend was seen by some in Washington as a sign that Holder may be setting the stage for such an announcement.